The Chelsea players have vowed to turn their Villa Park frustrations into the guiding force for the rest of their season.

Jose Mourinho is ready to blame referee Chris Foy and the Aston Villa defeat if Chelsea fall short of the title.

But as Mourinho enjoyed his humiliation of Arsene Wenger on the Frenchman’s 1,000th game with Arsenal, Andre Schurrle explained how the pain of that setback had seared itself into the Blues’ collective mind-set.

The Germany striker, whose goal two minutes after Samuel Eto’o’s opener set Saturday’s Stamford Bridge romp in motion, said: “Maybe what happened at Villa made us more determined, ­frustrated and angry.

“We were really angry after the match because it was one we should not have lost. We had a bad game, one we could’ve won.

“After the two red cards I saw the team was very angry. Maybe that was a motivation for us to be stronger over the last games.

“That would be good. We wanted to show the fans we can play another type of football.

“If you look at the standings, it’s a fact that if City win every match they are champions. We have to win every match. So we have to keep focused and keep winning and then we will see where we stand.”

Schurrle added: “We knew their full-backs are very offensive and go forward a lot and that when they lose the ball you have the chance to take advantage of the transition because they leave a lot of space.

“That was our plan. I’ve played in derbies before but never a 6-0, so to do that in a big London derby, in the title race, was a great, great feeling.”

Mourinho, for once not feeling the need to bang his own drum, suggested the fact his side were playing on the edge of a title abyss had driven a remorseless display.